Question: How do you tell if someone is “animal hoarding”?
I have a friend who has seven or eight cats. His house smells of litter boxes and the cats spray all over the place. It is not that he doesn?t clean the litter boxes or clean up after the cats, it’s just that there are so many, that one or another cat is always defecating somewhere in the house. He does take the cats to the vet when needed, but of course, that is expensive and money can be an issue for him. – John
Answer: I am glad to see that you have concern for your friend and the cats. Many people can be responsible owners of multiple pets without being ?hoarders?.
Animal hoarding is a disease and is generally characterized by someone who collects large numbers of pets that are not appropriately cared for. The pets may not have adequate food or water. The pets are often not spayed or neutered and they are not given regular veterinary care. They often are not groomed appropriately. The living conditions are often not sanitary.
Your friend has seven or eight cats. I know many people who have this many cats, or more, and take excellent care of them and the cats have wonderful homes. However, the cats need to be properly cared for every day. Your friend must be able to feed them and provide clean water at all times.
They need to have access to litter boxes and, generally, we say that you should have one more litter box than the number of cats that you have. For your friend that would be nine boxes! The boxes should be scooped daily or even twice daily. Cats may start to spray urine when boxes are not adequately cleaned. They also may urine mark when they are not spayed or neutered. If the boxes get too dirty, they quit using them all together.
If too many cats are in a small area, cats may sabotage the litter box and attack cats as they try to use it. You need adequate space to segregate the cats and make options for using the litter box. It is important that your friend keeps their living area clean and sanitary.
He needs to find ways to keep the cats happy by providing climbing trees and cat beds. The cats deserve to have a good quality of life. Cats can get very stressed when in overcrowded situations and fighting and injuries can occur.
Everyone has limits to what they can afford and how much time they have to take care of a large number of pets. For some people one pet is more than they can handle. Your friend may need some gentle persuasion to find a good home for one or two of the cats so that he can get to a number that he can comfortably manage and afford.
Dr. Baker
Baker Veterinary Clinic
1801 S. Congress Ave.
West Palm Beach, FL 33406
Read more articles by Dr. Baker | Ask her a question
Source: http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/pawshere/2011/08/18/does-having-7-or-8-cats-mean-owner-is-hoarding/
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